J. Cole’s Eyez Documentary Teases New Songs, Calls Out Other Rappers

The whispers of a new album from J. Cole have been confirmed via a new companion documentary–called Eyez–which was released yesterday on TIDAL. The record, 4 Your Eyez Only, will come out on December 9, exactly two years after his platinum-status Forest Hills Drive.

As the secret-agent title might suggest, the video gives listeners a privileged look into some of Cole’s more intimate moments during the recording of the ten-track LP. It also features two clips from new songs, both of which take big shots at other rappers. (He specifically goes in on the “fake deep rappers,” the “gatekeeper rappers,” the “Lil Whatever rappers,” and “Pitchfork rappers chosen by the white man.”) There’s also plenty of footage of Cole and crew at Electric Lady Studios, and an inside look at his thought process during the making of the record. He also plays a little basketball.

Cole, forever the flag-bearer for “real hip-hop,” seems to want to be especially thoughtful about what he says on the new album: “You’re never guaranteed to be this high again,” he explains to someone off camera at one point. “While I’m here, let me use this opportunity to say the realest shit I’ve ever said.”